Was Blind But Now I See
by TinkerBella7
Summary: So this is a little tag to FLASHLIGHT. I really enjoyed the crossover but I wanted just a little bit more, as usual. So this is some Mac and Jack Bromance stuff. It was great in the ep.


After saying goodbye to Kono and Chin, Jack and MacGyver picked up Bozer and Riley from the Volunteer tent and they headed straight to the airport. It was time to go home. Besides which, Jack had a birthday party to plan. Long before that happened though, he need to have a few words with MacGyver.

Seeing that Bozer and Riley were both asleep, Jack motioned for Mac to join him at the back of the plane where they would have a modicum of privacy. They were still in eyesight of the sleeping duo, but Bozer's snores were loud enough to drown out a quiet conversation. By rights they both should have been sleeping, but Jack knew that it was hard for the kid to shut down his big brain, especially when they were both still riding out the adrenaline high that being shot at by high-powered, *guaranteed not to miss* bullets provided.

"What's up?" Mac asked, the moment he and Jack were ensconced in the seats in the back. He wasn't sure he liked the serious expression the other man wore on his face. MacGyver couldn't shake the feeling he was about to get yelled at for something.

"What's up is that we need to have a little talk about what happened on the beach with those Chinese special forces dudes," Jack replied.

MacGyver was confused. "Uh...you mean how we stopped them from stealing the super bullets?"

Jack sighed, scrubbing one hand over his face as if he could wipe away his exhaustion. "Actually, I mean how I told you to stay behind and you disobeyed me."

"Jack..." Mac began, only for a large hand to wave in his face, cutting him off.

"I'm not done," Jack stated. "If Kono hadn't pushed you out of the way, you would have died today, bud. Then you go and put yourself in the line of a bullet in the hopes that your laser thingy would work."

Mac shrugged. "It did work," he reminded his friend. "I don't get what the problem is. It was a pretty win-win-win kinda day all the way around."

Jack resisted the urge to reach out and shake some sense into the kid. "The problem is that you didn't even hesitate to put yourself in harm's way, even after I told you not to do it."

"I put myself in harm's way all of the time, Jack." It was Mac's turn to scrub a hand over his face, wishing he could wipe away how tired he felt. Tired and achy he, silently, amended as he surreptitiously pressed a hand to his ribs. That first special forces dude they had run into had kicked hard. "It's part of the job," he continued.

"And it's part of my job to protect you so you can do your job, which is come up with weird and wonderful ways to save the day," Jack countered. "You can't do your job if you don't let me do my job because you'll be dead. Comprende?"

It hit Mac then and there why Jack was so upset with him. It hadn't been a priority on his *to do* list to stand there and let someone shoot a bullet at his head, but it wasn't like he'd had a choice, and Jack knew that as well as Mac did. Every now and then, however, something would happen that gave them a reality check. Life was too short and too precious, and that was why MacGyver had consented to let Jack throw him a birthday party when they got back home. Jack was just feeling the reality of it a bit to much right now. Leaning forward, Mac locked eyes with his friend. "I get it," he said softly. "But I'm good, and that's because you did your job. You know me, I don't sit and wait in the sidelines."

Jack heaved a dramatic sigh. "I do know and I have the gray hairs and worry lines to prove it." Reaching out, Jack clapped MacGyver on the knee. "You know that I'm not good with words but...you mean the world to me, kid. I don't want to lose you."

"I know." Mac smiled at his friend. "You were very good with words when Murdoc was trying to kill me. I get it, I do. But, Jack, I can't change how I am anymore than you can. But, somehow, we make it work."

"Yeah...we do." Jack knew that MacGyver was right, but sometimes the kid scared him half to death and he was getting too old for this shit. "You should try and get some sleep. You need to rest up for your birthday blast."

MacGyver groaned at the thought, but he wouldn't renege on it now. "Remember, you promised to keep it low-key."

Jack grinned. "And I am a man of my word." Of course when he'd said that he'd meant 'Jack Dalton's' version of low-key. Rising to his feet, Jack stretched out the kinks before reaching for Mac and pulling the kid up and over to the nearby couch. "Sleep. We can both catch a good catnap before we land." With that he curled up in his seat and settled in to do just that.

It would have been nice to be able to follow suit, but Mac couldn't seem to shut down. He brain never really shut down completely anyway, but sometimes it was like he couldn't control the chaos so he couldn't relax enough to sleep. Which meant he was laying down, playing games on his phone when Riley came over and sat down on the floor by his head. "You okay?" Mac asked her in a hushed voice.

"Can we talk?" Riley asked, in an equally hushed tone.

"Sure." Mac sat up and patted the seat for her to join him. "Is everything okay?"

Riley made a face. "I hope so. Um...I just wanted to let you know that Bozer told me about your tenth birthday and what happened with your Dad. I didn't mean to pry or anything, I was just curious as to why you don't celebrate your birthday. I'm sorry."

MacGyver shook his head. "You have nothing to be sorry for. What happened, happened a long time ago and it's okay that Bozer told you. You're my friend...I trust you."

"Thank you for that." Riley gave a sad smile then did something completely compulsive, she leaned in and gave Mac a hug. When he got over his surprise and hugged her back, she whispered, "Happy Birthday, Mac."

"Thanks, Riley." MacGyver knew he was lucky to have such good friends. When she got up and returned to his seat, Mac laid back down and this time he found himself drifting off to sleep.

After the party guests were gone and the gang had done a cursory clean-up, excluding Mac whom had been sent to the shower because he wasn't allowed to clean up after his own party. Also because one of the party-goers, a pretty red-head, had been very enthusiastic while hugging Mac goodbye and had managed to spill her beer down the front of his shirt.

After all of that, the foursome re-grouped around the fire pit with one more beer, each caught up in a contemplative silence, which Mac was the first to break.

"So...today was an eye opener," he began. Between Earthquakes and rescues, and Chinese special forces and assassin bullets, it had been a day unlike most others. Which was saying a lot, given their line of work.

"That it was," Jack stated.

Bozer added his two-cents. "In more ways than one." He was looking at Riley as he spoke, thinking of how she seemed to be so into Hawaii tech dude, despite the distance between them.

Riley was in total agreement with all of them. "It makes you realize that what Jack said is true. Every day is precious and I, for one, am going to try not to take a single one of them for granted from this moment on."

"Here, here," MacGyver replied, lifting his bottle in a toast to that, before adding, "And thanks to all of you for making my birthday something worth celebrating again." Since they all now knew the story behind him being anti-birthday, Mac knew that they would understand how much today really did mean to him.

"Anytime, bro," Jack replied. "So...I was thinking we could celebrate your birthday in Vegas next year because, as you know, what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas." He was grinning from ear to ear as he spoke, thinking of all the fun they could have gambling and taking in shows and gambling.

MacGyver nixed that idea in the bud. "Maybe for your birthday, Jack. I prefer something closer to home and more low-key. Tonight was pretty perfect."

Jack was pleased that the kid had, genuinely, enjoyed himself. "Trust me though, I'll figure out something even better for next year."

"It doesn't get any better than this, Jack," Mac countered, gesturing to everyone and and their surroundings. "Friends, family and home equals best birthday ever." MacGyver could see that now. Not that he didn't feel a touch of sadness that lingered with him every year at this time, but his friends...his family...made it better. He was a lucky man, and he would never let himself forget it.

THE END


End file.
